Time Ticks on
by Golden Script
Summary: Time, the ever-flowing measure of action. It is not a physical thing that one can touch or feel, but an abstract thought of the difference between now, then, and later; it is the indefinite continued progress of existence. What happens when one has the ability to control time? I am this being. I control Time.
1. A Rather Chaotic Salvation

How long's it been? A few centuries…? Give or take a couple decades, I think. That's how long I've been stuck in this pose, unmoving for the past eternity.

I believe I forgot introductions. These days I go by the name of Michael Faraday. I have blue eyes and long brown hair that people say is unnaturally soft, I'm a good 6'3" and was never the best looking guy... but I like to think I do pretty well.

As I thought about my physical characteristics, I remembered exactly what I looked like at the moment, seeing as I couldn't turn my head to look.

My coat was frozen, flapping in an invisible wind, I had my goggles up on my forehead, my arm was raised so I could look at the watch it held; but that's not where my eyes were directed. They were staring off into the distance, towards a horizon I would never reach.

At least, that's how I imagined I looked. In actuality, I was probably just standing there with my arm raised, looking away. But, hey, a guy can't dream?

Anyway, my day composed of mostly shrubs, shrubs, and—you guessed it!—more shrubs. But every once in a while a tour group comes up here, into the garden of stone, to look at me or one of my fellow stone-mates.

Oh, yeah. Did I mention I was currently a living statue? Well, not so much "living" as "was once alive", but tomato tomauto, right?

Nevertheless, I was just sitting here, counting the leaves on Geoff, my favorite shrub, when a group of foals came by.

Another fact I don't think I've gone over yet: this world is not inhabited by humans. No, its dominant race is equine. And not like "full grown horses", but "small, rounded ponies". The group that was visiting me now wasn't full grown, so, from the shoulder, they reached about your knee.

"I want to start our field trip here, in the world-famous Canterlot sculpture garden. That one over there represents 'Friendship'. All right, my little ponies, this one represent 'Victory'." I heard a matured feminine voice call in a tone that demonstrated authority. I could tell this was a school teacher, just from the way she talked to the foals.

"How cool would it be to have that for a cutie mark?" Came a scratchy little voice. _'This one's a tomboy for sure.'_

"Cool, if you were actually victoryful at somethin'." _'A country girl? Maybe from one of the nearby villages, but this is definitely a group from out of town.'_

"That's not a word!" _'Oh, that squeaking, make it stop!'_ I thought in agony. Her voice cracked every other word and it made the most annoying sound I'd heard in a _long_ time.

And that's saying something.

"What are you, a dictionary?" _'You don't have to be a dictionary to recognize bad grammar… just sayin'.'_

"Girls! Now this is a really interesting statue. What do you notice about it?" _'Hmm… half the statues in the garden are 'interesting', you'll have to be more specific.'_

"It's got an eagle claw!" _'Griffon the Gryphon?'_

"And a lion paw!" _'Yeah, Griffon the Gryphon.'_ I thought as I remembered the evil tyrant. He killed his subjects for fun. When they finally did overthrow him, I jumped for joy… well, in my prison, that is.

"And a snake tail!" _'… well, that's unexpected…'_

_'__Unless…'_

_'__No… they wouldn't have…'_

"This creature is called a draconequus. He has the head of a pony and a body made up of all sorts of things. What do you suppose that represents?" _'They did! They moved him back! I thought I'd never talk to him again!'_ I thought to myself in surprise and borderline cheer. I'd had the past seven hundred years of only myself to talk to.

_'__Dissy!'_ I called out to him.

_'__Sh!'_ was the response I got. _'Trying to concentrate.'_ I'd never known him to be so serious. If he wanted me to buzz off, he had good reason. So that's exactly what I did.

"Confusion!" _'Not quite.'_

"Evil!" _'Closer…'_

"Chaos!" _Almost there!'_

"It's not chaos, you dodo!" _'And there's The Dictionary; correcting children all over the world!'_ I thought sarcastically.

"Don't call me things I don't know the meaning of! And it is too chaos!" _'You don't know how close you are, Tomboy!'_

"Is not!" _'You might know your words, but you need to study up on history.'_

"You're both wrong!" _'Shut up, cowgirl! This is brain versus brawn! We don't need you!'_ I'd given up mocking the passersby a while ago, but sometimes—when the certain opportunity presents itself—I like to go back to the good ole days…

I heard some grunting and scuffing of dirt sounds. I presumed that the three fillies had gotten into a scuffle. I started making bets on who would win.

Betting against one's-self isn't as fun as it sounds.

And it doesn't sound very fun, does it?

Right then I sensed something. I'd felt nothing like it for as long as I've been here, but there was only a pulse of it, and it was gone. Poof! _'What was that?'_ I thought.

The mare must have thought that the three fighting each other was crossing a line of some kind, so she broke the tussle up. "Actually, in a way, you're all right. This statue represents "Discord", which means a lack of harmony between ponies. In fact, you three have demonstrated discord so well that you're each going to write me an essay explaining it."

I winced for the kids once I heard this. I was never one for essays. Even back on earth where we had computers!

Mrs. Evil-Teacher broke me out of my own thoughts of evil paperwork when she said "Now let's go, and I don't want any more fighting," which I could agree with. That fight seemed intense!

Cue the Street Fighter music!

As the group started walking away they continued to argue, albeit quieter.

"It's confusion!"

"Evil!"

"Chaos!"

Suddenly, a new sound filled my ears.

"Teacher?" Came a young colt's voice. "What's this one?" he asked as he walked in front of me.

He had a light grey coat and a purple mane. His intelligent green eyes sparkled with wonder as he looked up at me. I haven't had someone look at me like that for the past thousand years, at _least!_

"This one?" asked the teacher as she too walked into my line of sight. "This statue represents Time. You see how he stands ready while looking ahead? It shows how, no matter what happens to pony-kind, time ticks on, always looking to the future. A little saddening, I know, but it also represents how we should always look to the future if we're having a bad time!" she gave a sad smile to the colt, who kept staring at me in wonder, and nudged him along. "But enough of that, it's time to move on to the next area!" she chirped in excitement.

As they left I heard something. Not something from the outside world, but something in my head.

Was that… laughter?

_'__Muahahaha!'_ my old stoned companions chuckle turned to a sinister chortle.

_'__Hey, Dissy, what ya up to?'_ I called out to him in fear and excitement.

"Oh, nothing!" he called back, but this sound was no longer in my head. This one was coming from over to my left. "Just a bit of chaos!" he flew up to my statue, curling his snake-like body around it, coming face-to-face with me.

_'__How did you get out?'_ I asked, surprise lacing my voice… well, the one in my head, anyway.

"I'm just so… **chaotic** the stone crumbled around me." His eyes pulsed a rainbow of colors at the word "chaotic". "you know what else would be **chaotic**?" there was a pause for effect. "If I let you out. You could help me terrorize the ponies once again." He put his paw over his chin in thought.

_'__Well, then, what are you waiting for? Release me!'_ I demanded of the Draconequus.

"Now, Mikey-"

_'_**_NO ONE_**_ calls me Mikey!'_ I snarled in my mind. He visibly flinched at this.

"Ok, ok. Geez, just chill man." He said in a hippy-ish voice. Once I took a deep mental breath and let it out through my nose he put on a pseudo-sad face and said. "I was going to let you out, but now I'm not so sure." He put a foreleg over his forehead and shouted: "oh, the emotional turmoil! Woe is me!"

_'__Ok, I'm cool now. Can you just release me already?'_ I asked him in a calm tone.

"What's the magic word?" he grinned at me with an eyebrow raised.

_'__Discord!'_ I thought to him menacingly, more annoyed than anything.

"Hmm… while that is a very magical word, it's not The Magic Word." He said sarcastically as he flew away with a laugh.

_'__No! Wait! I'm sorry! Please! Discord, I'm begging you, please release me!'_ I yelled in my mind as his wing beats grew further. Once they faded out completely, I quit calling out to him.

_'__Damn you, discord. Damn you to hell.'_ I thought as I slumped my shoulders.

…

…

…

_'__Wait.'_


	2. Piece of the Past:The Malicious Merchant

Only a few feet in front of me stood a pair of doors I never thought I'd walk through. They were the doors leading into the local Convention Center. Today was the first day of the Steampunk Settlement convention. Now, I never was one for open and crowded places, and I probably never would have come if it weren't for one thing.

"Let's go in already!" My companion complained as she pushed her way past me. "I can't wait to see all the vintage looking clothes I can buy!" She squealed as she practically ran up to the counter.

"Wait!" I yelled with my arm outstretched, jogging to catch up. "Don't you think you should be a little more reserved about spending the money you have? It's not like you've got bottomless pockets, or anything."

"Of course not!" she stopped to scoff at me. "That's why you're here!" she grinned like the maniac she was and walked up to the front desk.

I just facepalmed and walked after her, hoping that she didn't embarrass me too much.

"I'd like two all-day passes, please!" she practically yelled at the poor teen behind the booth.

"S-sure, m-m-m-miss." He said with more than a little fear in his eye as he handed her the two tickets. "That'll be forty dollars, please." He just about ducked under the waist-high wall that separated the overzealous girl from the horror-stricken boy.

She expectantly looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm not paying for them!" She burst out, making my eardrums ring.

I considered pursuing this argument further, then realized who I was arguing with and that it'd be a bad idea, and not only for the sake of my hearing.

"Fine." I mumbled as I pulled out my wallet from my smooth black slacks.

My attire for tonight was not completely my choice. Most of it was put together by my companion, Christina Rossetti. But when your girlfriend is that deeply interested in fashion, there's not much you can do but suck it up.

I was wearing a nice white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to keep them out of the way of things I may be doing; over that I had a black vest with three pockets, one on the left breast, and two lower down, on the stomach, with a sleek black tie under it. Just past my simple black slacks was a pair of black dress shoes and on my head I wore a pair of welding goggles; they were painted to look old and rusted, while having magnifying lenses attached to the right side.

Next to me stood Christy, with her fancy white shirt tucked under a brown corset. Her small clip-on top hat was tilted on her head, threatening to fall off if she spun around too much. She had long, cloth gloves, ending just past her elbows. The skirt she had on was much too small for my taste, seeing as we would be spending the next few hours in a place with hundreds of people roaming around, but she said that there would be others like her there, too. I'll let you guess how I reacted to that news. Anyway, her high-heels gave her a few more inches, but she was still half a head shorter than me, and her long black socks reached up to the hem of her skirt.

As we walked through the door leading to the main area, I realized exactly how popular this convention was. There were hundreds upon hundreds of people, and they were all wearing things from skirts and corsets to full suits and jackets. I don't think there was a single person that wasn't dressed up!

"This is going to be great!" Christy squeed next to me. "Oh, look at that!" she ran over to a stand that was selling men's clothing. "You should totally buy this! It would look great on you!"

I took one look at the long rustic trench coat she held up for me, and promptly fell in love.

Of course, I couldn't show this externally, so I kept a straight face while staring at her. I walked up to her with the same stoic expression and felt the jacket. I checked the pockets for holes, tried it on, felt how comfortable the lining was on both my bare skin and my clothed areas. It lead down just a little past my ankles. I then hooked my thumbs in my pockets and looked off into the distance, making what I hoped to be a thoughtful visage.

"Hmm… maybe…" I looked to her as the puppy dog eyes shattered my façade. "Oh, fine." I started digging through my pocket for my wallet.

"Yay!" she screamed out with her arms in the air.

I swear, I don't know how_ I _handle her sometimes.

"Ok, off to find some cute accessories!" She skipped off to probably find some overpriced earrings I couldn't buy, but "looked pretty".

I followed her, but not before glancing at a stand with a scraggly man behind it. When I did, I got this feeling. Something was pulling me towards it. Not in a physical sense, but nevertheless there.

The man noticed me staring and promptly gave me the creepiest smirk I'd ever seen.

I walked away, in the direction Christy went. There was something about the stand that made me want to turn around, but there was something else about it that caused me to keep walking.

When I did eventually find her she was looking at some earrings in the shape of gears. When I looked at the price tag I thought_'Called it,' _as it was way too expensive.

"Wouldn't these look _so_ cute!" She turned to me. "It'd be a shame if they went to some rich snob that wears them once and never looks at them again." She pouted

"But that's exactly what you'll do." I deadpanned.

"I know, but when it's me, it's different!" Her pout turned angry.

I chuckled as I checked my wallet. I didn't have much left, but I could buy her the jewelry and _maybe _another cheap prop, leaving enough for a meal for her.

"Fine, fine. Here you go." I handed the cash to the vendor. She smiled and took the bills, placing them behind the small makeshift counter.

"Yay! You're the best!" She hugged me around the neck.

"Anything for you," I gave her a peck on the cheek and hugged her back.

"Whatever. C'mon, there's more stuff this way!" She broke out of my grip, blushing, and galloped off in the direction she pointed only moments before.

I watched her dancing from stand to stand, looking at the different steam-related machines and pieces of brown colored clothing. I slowly turned my head the direction we came from earlier, seeing the vendor from before off in the distance. That same, strange feeling, deep inside me, wafted through my body, but this time it was stronger. It was all I could do just to turn away and walk after Christy.

When she finally stopped she was staring at something. This something had obviously caught her eye, seeing as her jaw was practically on the floor.

"Christy? You alright?" I asked as I got to her.

"I spy, with my little eye," she said as she started walking slowly towards a stand. "Something I know you'll want to buy." She rhymed.

"What would I buy that your little eye's spied?" I asked, also in rhyme.

She looked at me with a face that showed disappointment. "Don't do that… ever… like, ever, ever."

"Sorry." I said staring at my shoes like a five-year-old.

We both chuckled and I walked to the stand as she picked up a gleaming bronze pistol. It looked like an old version of the Contender. It was stunning, with intricate swirls tracing along the barrel all the way down to the flintlock style mechanism. The wood surrounding the gun had an old, used look to it, making the gun seem more authentic. There was even a holster that went with it! It was a truly handsome gun, no pun intended, but I doubted I had enough to get it.

"This is a great gun, Christy, but I don't think I have enough." I voiced my fears.

"Oh, that's fine." she reached into her pocket and pulled out a few twenties.

"Where you been hidin' that?!" I asked in a small rage.

"I ain't been hidin' anythin'," she mocked my crappy southern accent. "I was saving it for a special occasion, or when you ran out of money; which you did."

"Geez. Whatever." I said as she handed the money to the man behind the table.

"Think of it as payment for the earrings." She said as she felt the small gears dangling from her earlobes.

"Thanks, but I'm not sure they were the same price." I said, thinking some cheap jewelry was less important than a—very realistic and well crafted—handgun.

"You're right, that gun was only forty bucks. My gears were a good seventy… I'll have to find something else to get you." she thought aloud.

I was a bit stunned. _'My gun was less than some gears on metal wiring? What? That made no sense!_

_Well, no use crying over spilled milk. Either way, it was definitely a steal, which is always good._

"You don't have to do that. The gun was underpriced. And it's the thought that counts, right?" I told her as we started walking around some more.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't feel right if you wanted to get something that was too much because you bought my earrings." That pout's going to kill me someday. I just know it.

"Look, if there's anything I really need, I'll come to you if I don't have the cash, ok?" I asked, looking into her eyes.

"Ok." She said sadly.

I pulled her chin up and gave her a smile. She gave one back and we kept walking.

Most of the day went by just fine. We had fun at the different events. I entered a virtual airship battle and won. The prize was a necklace in the shape of a heart. The heart was made of bronze with pink paint that looked as if it were peeling off. When I gave it to her she put her hands over her chest and gasped, saying "oh, I love it."

When the day was almost over we left the way we came. But there was still that stand with the scraggly old man sitting behind it. It looked as if nothing had changed, and when he saw me pass by he stared at me with that same smirk. It was bothering me beyond belief, this feeling in my gut. I didn't understand it!

"Hey, Christy? Would you mind going to warm up the car? I've got something I need to do real fast." I told her with a stern face that said not to argue.

"Uh, ok. Here, take some cash. Just in case." She told me as she slipped a twenty into my pocket and walked off, glancing back at me before walking out the door.

Once she was gone I walked over to the stand, right up to the man's face, and asked in a borderline-angry tone "Ok, what's your problem? Every time I walk by, you're staring at me with this look on your face like I'm some sort of joke."

"Oh, it is nothing," he said in a, clearly Russian, accent. "I just thought you would like pocket watch." He gestured to the table in front of him. On it were many assorted watches of all shapes and sizes. There was one made of pure crystal, one of bronze, and even one made to resemble a candy cane.

"I don't need one, thank you." I told him, trying to ignore that feeling I kept having as I stood up again.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his smirk evolving into a grin. "Your face says different." He reached under the table and pulled out a small box. "Maybe this one is better." He slid the box over to me and motioned for me to take it.

When I picked it up a lurch deep down in my stomach nearly made me drop it. There was something about this box that I liked and disliked, all in one.

"You may have it, free of charge." He said in a more-than-suspicious tone.

"Thanks." I started walking away in a daze, not realizing that I had already pulled the boxes contents out.

It was made of smooth silver that was freshly waxed and polished, gleaming in the florescent light like the moon. It had a simple Lemniscate on the front made of a crystal that pulsed white and gold every second.

When I opened the watch I studied the interior. The face of the watch had holes in it, allowing me to look into the interior of the watch and the mechanics—what made the clock tick. On the inside of the lid was an image. It looked like it was an old photograph, with a brown tinge to it. That's not what was weird about it, though. It was an image of me and Christy, I had my arms around her, and she had her arms around me, but we weren't looking at each other, we were looking at the camera. We were smiling.

I suddenly realized three things.

One: The sudden and strong smell of springtime grass came to my nose, which shouldn't be possible inside a building filled to the brim with people.

Two: There was a sudden silence around me, when the air had been filled with the buzzing of hundreds of voices from visitors in the convention building only moments before.

Three: The lighting around seemed to grow brighter each passing second to the point I began to squint to keep my eyes from hurting.

Just as my eyes adjusted to the increased light I found myself awestruck at the site before me. My heart began racing out of control as my eyes widen in fear and wonder.

"Where am I?"


	3. Piece of the Past: Guns and Roses

As I looked around my eyes grew wider and wider until they felt like they'd pop out of my head. I was no longer in the convention center, I was in a field.

The grass blew around, forming waves of green. The smell assaulted my nostrils, bringing nothing but the thought of spring and freshness; the sound of the grass a constant and fluctuating "whoosh". It rolled for as far as the eye could see in all directions.

…

Well, not all directions. After a minute of actively searching the horizon I found I could see some trees off in the distance. I began to think about exactly what happened to me, but found the sun bearing down on me relentlessly. When I looked up I saw something odd, but not impossible.

The sky was blue.

Yeah, yeah, I know. "But the sky is supposed to be blue." That's not what I mean. It was a pure blue, like it hadn't been touched by human hands…. Well, I should say "sentient limbs" looking back on it.

I'd have thought that it was a perfect day, if I weren't wearing a heavy coat. Realizing this, I took the coat off and folded it over my arm. This allowed me out of my stupor to go into survival mode. I went through the typical steps one should take.

One: don't panic.

_Check._

Two: check current location; look for landmarks or anything else to indicate where one is.

_Check. No major indicators other than the forest in the distance._

Three: check what is on one's person at the time of awakening.

_Check. I have my clothing, my wallet, my phone—which, conveniently enough, has no signal—, the trench coat I was wearing moments before, the goggles on my forehead, the pocket watch, and the gun I'd bought at the convention._

I'd checked the gun at the convention, but it had a distinct lack of ammo back then. Now there was a live round in the chamber. I dismissed it as one of the least strange things that had happened today, holstering the weapon once more.

"Well, great. I'm Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a live handgun, a watch, and a busted cellphone. Sounds like a bad book." I said to myself, just to hear something other than the whistle of the wind over the grass.

So imagine my surprise when I got a response.

-

**ELSEWHERE MINUTES BEFORE**

"Greetings! What chaos can I do for you today?" Asked a cheery Draconequus. This creature looks like a mishmash of many different creatures. The particular Draconequus speaking has an eagle's claw and a lion's paw, a snake tail and the head of a horse. It has the wings of a Pegasus and a bat and its horns resembled that of a goat and a deer.

"How about the chaos of disappearing, Discord?" The younger sister responded. Her soft wings and a hard horn were colored, the same as her coat, navy blue. Her mane was an ethereal blue trail that sparkled as if the stars themselves were woven in. she adorned silver plated hooves and the crest on her chest showed a white crescent over a black background.

"And I would do this… why, Luna?" Discord waved his paw around, conjuring a banana that split open to explode like a party popper, as he asked this.

"Look around, Discord. You cause nothing but misery in these lands. All who reside here, only wish you gone!" the older one stomped a hoof. She had a pure white coat, which also matched the colors of her wings and horn. Her mane was a plethora of colors, ranging from green to pink to blue. Her hooves had golden plating and the crest hanging from her neck was gold with a simple purple jewel embedded in it.

"Well, Celestia, you know I can't just up and go! There are still _so_ many goodbyes I need to say." He put his talon over his forehead as he said this. The mares before him were not impressed.

"Oh, fine." he continued after a moment. "I'll leave," There was a look of shock on the two liberators-to-be. Discord finished. "On one condition." He held a digit up, indicating his one and only requirement before he left.

"And… what would that be?" Celestia exchanged a glance with Luna before asking this.

"You must defeat me in a duel." He said with a devious sneer.

The two mares quickly crouched into a fighting stance, lighting their horns and flaring their wings.

"Oh, not right now!" the chimera cried out in laughter. "And it wouldn't be fair, two on one! You ponies are so barbaric." He mumbled the last part to himself.

Celestia slowly relaxed with Luna right behind, even if the blue mare kept her wings slightly extended.

"Ok, Discord. What are the details of our duel?" asked Celestia.

"Well, it's not our duel. You see, there's no way that either of you would be able to beat me, we all know I'm the embodiment of Chaos, so how do we level the playing field?" he waited, and when no suggestions were given, he finished. "We have others fight for us."

The sisters were surprised and disgusted by the thought of this, having others fight their battles. What if they got injured! What if it were fatal! They'd carry the knowledge with them for the rest of their lives, that they'd been responsible for a creatures death.

"I've already chosen my champion. All you have to do is find someone willing to fight for you." said the draconequus. "I'll leave you to it!" he jeered as he flew off.

"Sister, what are we to do?" asked Luna. She had a face that showed her concern for the challenge Discord had issued.

Her sisters' visage, however, did not mirror hers. It was a mask of determination. "You will follow him, spy on him, try to find out what his champions strengths and weaknesses are. You will stall them and give me time to find the Elements of Harmony. With those we will be able to trap Discord in stone whether he likes it or not. Now go!" Luna hesitated only a second before adopting a face similar to her sisters' and flew off in the direction Discord was heading.

"We've been looking for months, but we just can't find them! The Elements of Harmony are nowhere in Equestria!" Celestia thought aloud. "Unless…" she checked her map again, looking to an area they hadn't searched, but didn't dare for fear of what lurked within. "Unless Discord moved them to the Everfree." Celestia finished her previously unfinished statement. The Alicorn looked towards the forest, mere willpower keeping her from walking away and trying again in another village.

She began her long journey into the forest.

-

**IN THE SKY**

_'Where could he be going?'_ Thought Luna as she followed Discord. _'There's nothing out here!'_

As soon as she took off after the Draconequus she found him flying over in the direction of the Pony Plains. there wasn't much in that direction other than a faraway town that was only just budding. the chances of a fine champion in the small assortment of houses was extremely small.

The sky was clear, the sun was shining, and the air over her wings was cool. It was the perfect day to go flying… which is why she nearly flew right over the clearing that Discord had stopped at.

When she did realize that she was no longer following him she was still a good few hundred feet from the clearing, giving her just enough time to stop and hide in some trees. She used a spell to increase her sight and hearing. This increased her vision threefold and her hearing intensified.

What she saw standing next to Discord stunned her.

-

**IN THE CLEARING**

"Well, great. I'm Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a live handgun, a watch, and a busted cellphone. Sounds like a bad book." I'd just finished saying.

"It would be, if I weren't in it!" Came a cheery voice from behind me. I whipped around and stared at the creature before me. "Hello, Champion! My name is Discord!" it reached out a paw that resembled a lion.

"Umm… hello?" I attentively reached out and grasped the paw. It took a firm hold on my hand and violently pulled the limb up and down, shaking the rest of me.

When the onslaught of vibrations finally stopped I just about fell over. When I finally did catch my balance I looked Discord over, taking in his appearance to see if he was a friend or a foe.

"Oh, you have nothing to fear from me! I'm one of the good guys!" he told me before putting his eagle clawed arm around my body, effectively stopping me from using my own arms. He made a grand waving motion in front of us and said "we have so much to talk about."

*gulp*


	4. Piece of the Past: Complicated Changes

He held me in his eagle arm for a few seconds. I became uncomfortable and squirmed my way out.

"Look, it's great to meet you, Discord, but I just want to get back to that convention." I told him, racking my brain for what may have caused this apparition in front of me. Did someone drug me when I was preoccupied? Or maybe I fell down and hit my head. It might have been that weird vendor, he didn't exactly look trustworthy.

"What convention?" Asked Discord with one eyebrow raised. "I summoned a great hero that would be able to help me in a righteous task!" His paw was thrust into the air, making an epic pose.

"Well, I think you used the wrong summons, I'm no hero." I dismissively told him.

"Oh, but you are! I summoned a bipedal creature with lenses and a long coat!" He yelled as he pointed out the coat still folded over my arm and the goggles on my head. "And you even have the vest and shirt that the picture depicted! Look at you, you're _definitely_the Lord of Time!" He gestured towards all of me with a disbelieving look on his face.

"I'm no Time Lord. I can't regenerate, I'm not a thousand years old, and I don't have a TARDIS." The tone my voice took on was more sarcastic than anything, but I think I still put him off a little bit.

"That's not what I summoned at all! I attempted to bring forth a being that can control the flow of time, and you have that power." He explained to me.

"What? How can I control time?" I asked incredulously.

"With your watch." His paw pointed to the chain leading to my pocket.

"This thing can't control time!" I pulled the timepiece out of the aforementioned pocket as I laughed. "It can't even tell time reliably!" When I looked at the watch it said that it was two fifteen in the morning when, according to the sun, it's closer to noon

"But it can manipulate time." he pointed out like it was a well-known fact.

"How?!" I was just about done with this… thing talking to me. The fact that I was taking it seriously was only proving my lack of sanity.

"Like this." He snatched the watch from me and pressed down on the crown. The reaction was surprising, to say the least.

The first thing I noticed was the cold. As soon as he pushed the crown down the temperature dropped to, in contrast to the sweltering heat only moments before, below zero! I rushed to put my coat back on and fold my arms to try and maintain what little heat I had left.

Then I looked around.

The grass, which was a writhing mass of green, flowing like the ocean, is now only a picture taken from an instant in time. Not even the sound of movement reached my ears, I no longer smelled the springtime air, and I felt no breeze on my skin. Everything was frozen.

When I looked back at Discord even he wasn't moving, the watch still in his paw. I went over to him, walking right up to his face. I looked right into his eyes, which were still focused on where I was before.

_'I wonder'_ I thought as I looked into his unresponsive eyes.

I pried the watch from him rather easily and pressed the crown again, my face still inches from his.

Everything came rushing back, the sounds, the feels, and the sights. What had been a little over a minute for me was literally no time at all for him, which is probably why he jumped a good ten feet backward in surprise.

"I-I-I see you've gotten the hang of it." there was a moment of silence and a "hick!" came from his mouth.

I promptly laughed my ass off.

"It's not funny!" He yelled with a "hick!" to punctuate his statement.

I wiped a tear from my eye as I attempted to stop the chuckling still in my system. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting such a reaction from you." I took a deep breath and looked at him, a ghost of a smile still present on my lips. "So I can do that, now." I mumbled more to myself, but he seemed to hear it nonetheless.

"Yes, you can also speed time up, but I'll get to that later. For now I'll tell you why I've summoned you to my world." He hiccupped again, but snapped his fingers and gave a swift nod before looking at me for a response.

"That would be good to know. What's so bad that you need a 'Lord of Time' to help you fix it?" I asked, adopting the title he'd given me mere minutes ago.

"Firstly, I don't think we've had proper introductions. I am the humble ruler of this land, King Discord." He stated with a simple nod of the head, eyes closed.

This was the first time I realized I was in the presence of royalty. I racked my brain, the second time today, for the proper etiquette for meeting royalty before I realized it was a simple kneel and a "your majesty", which is exactly what I did.

"Stand up; I'm not that kind of king." As I slowly stood, he reconsidered his statement. "Well, I _am_ that kind of king, but I don't like the formalities very much. When we're alone, please just call me Discord."

"As you wish, King Discord." I said, still not wanting to offend him, but not sure how friendly he wants me to get.

He deadpanned at me for a second, shook his head and said "that'll just have to do for now." Suddenly, his face became a visage of dead seriousness. "Back to the matter at hand: I am the king of these lands, at the moment, but there are two beings that wish to over throw me. They came to me earlier today, asking me to leave, but as you can probably guess, this isn't exactly what I want to do, seeing as it would cause tyranny and militaristic regimentation. This is not desirable for anyone, other than the tyrant, so I gave them a proposal… a challenge, if you will. I told them to find a champion, someone that would fight for them. And I would find myself a champion. We would pit these fighters against each other and whoever's champion is victorious would keep the kingdom." He paused for a minute, thinking over his words carefully. "This is why I've summoned you."

He kneeled in front of me, putting his arm across his chest, the other a fist in to the ground, and his head bowed. "Would you be my champion, oh mighty Lord of Time?"


	5. Tricks with Time

**PRESENT DAY**

A moment passed as I tried to comprehend exactly what had just happened.

I'd slumped my shoulders.

_'Yes, I know this, but was it mental or physical?'_ I asked myself, too scared to try and move again.

Suddenly my hand twitched. My eyes shot to the limb in front of me. Now that I think about it, that also felt a bit weird, like I was actually moving my eyes.

I stared at the offending hand until another sensation faded into my body.

My chest really hurt.

_'What's going on now?!'_ I called out to nobody in particular.

When the feeling seemed like it would kill me, my body reacted on instinct and I let out a gasp of air, only to pull as much of the stuff back into my lungs as I could.

_'That settles it. I'm back.'_ my subconscious confirmed.

My hands shot to my neck as it tried to transport the large amount of air. In the process of doing this I fell to one knee, proving once and for all that I could really move again.

After a few minutes of breathing, I began to think about what might have caused this. I went ahead and assumed that Discord had let me out. The only reason of concern would be if he had struck a deal, but he hadn't asked anything of me, so that meant I was truly free.

The first thing I did was look around, just to make sure that nobody had seen my… uncouth display of weakness. I had assured myself that I was alone, so I stood up, my posture never better, and patted myself down. I made sure that none of my pockets were folded in on themselves, my shirt was straight and flat, my tie was tight, and finally, what time it was.

I opened my pocket watch, looking at the face of the timepiece. It visually read 4:37, though I knew it was 9:20 in the morning. "Hmm… just over a thousand years." I mused. "Looks like I was off by a few centuries. I wonder why." I snapped the watch shut with a quick flick of the wrist and started walking in the direction of the exit.

I walked down the path with a swagger that only a refined chap such as myself could have. When I finally did reach the exit there were two guards standing in gold-plated armor. I walked past and gave the stallions a quick nod and an offhand "Good day". I didn't look back to see their faces, I was sure that they were masks of shock and confusion. It took them a good ten seconds to decide to attack me.

I heard the rapid clopping of hooves behind me steadily get closer. At the last second I spun around, whipping my coattail into the air. They were surprised and hesitated during the final step that would take their spear point directly into my chest, which was all I needed.

I whipped my watch out and clicked the crown with my thumb. As the stallions froze in their running positions, one with a hoof on the ground the other seemingly suspended in the air, I cracked a smile. This was going to be fun.

I placed my goggles over my eyes to protect them from anything airborne, or the air itself for that matter, and quickly walked behind the two stallions. I studied their positions, seeing what I might be able to accomplish with their bodies. Suddenly, inspiration struck!

I pulled the helmet off of both their heads, placing one on the ground in front of the hovering stallion and the other on my own head. I walked behind the Flamingo Guard and poked the hoof that would come down next. A small indent formed where my finger was, showing the amount of force that would be applied as soon as I continued time. I walked around the two, wondering what other tricks I could pull.

I didn't want to hurt them… much, I'm not a monster!

Well, I am to the ponies, but you know what I mean!

I took a good look at the two stallions, making last moment observations of their poses. I decided that there wasn't enough funny here, so I took a stroll through the palace.

_'If I'm not mistaken, the kitchen should be right around… here!'_ I thought as I turned a corner to see two wide open doors. Just beyond were a dozen ponies working in what we humans would call a gourmet bakery. I took a quick look around and found the delicacies I was looking for. I quickly snatched them up and walked back to the small clearing I was in moments before.

**IN THE ROYAL KITCHEN**

Rosemary Butter is a mare of sophisticated taste. She knows how to cook a soup that would send your taste buds to nirvana; her bread had the slightest hint of butter that perfectly balanced the crisp and the cream; and the one thing that made her stand out, if anything else, was her pies. Often times she'd find them missing when one of her line cooks got hungry, which is why she wasn't surprised that two of her delicious morsels were slipped right out from under her muzzle.

Literally.

She'd just finished baking two pies, one a simple apple while the other was a sweet cherry. She only pulled them out of the oven a minute ago, when she took a big whiff of the circles of crust and filling. Once she came down from her euphoria and opened her eyes the pies were gone.

"Ok, who did it?" she called to the rest the staff. "Who took my pies?"

The room became fairly silent, only the ponies doing something important that warranted their full attention didn't stop and stare at the mare. But as all this happened, nopony took responsibility for the stolen snacks.

"I know somepony did! Now who was it?" she called again. Still, none of the ponies took the blame.

"Fine! I'll just make new ones." She said more to herself than those around her.

She didn't hate having to make more; it was her special talent, after all, and she loved baking things, especially sweet things, for others and herself! It was one of the only things she took joy in, which is why the extra work didn't dampen her mood in the slightest.

**BACK IN THE FIELD**

There they stood, exactly where I left them only a minute before. I judged the trajectory and placed the pies on the ground in just the right place. I took a moment to admire my handiwork. I'd finished this in a relatively short amount of time… well, from my point of view, anyway. As I took in the last of the prank I'd just put into place I pulled out my watch.

_'Here we go!'_ I thought as I thumbed the crown once more.


	6. Piece of the Past: Time to Learn

"Um…" I said dumbly. I'd never been bowed to before, and I never thought I'd receive a bow in the first place, but now that I was standing before this being showing his apparent respect for me I was a bit stunned.

"It would be my immense honor if you would fight by my side." Discord tensed at the thought of my possible refusal to be his champion. "Please. If not for me, for my subjects!" he practically begged.

"Ok, ok, I will! Just stand up, you're embarrassing me." I said hurriedly.

"Oh, thank you, Lord of Time! You don't know what this means to me!" he said as he visibly relaxed at my agreement. He took a deep breath and stood, looking me in the eyes seriously as he said "next we train you. You've shown that you don't know how to harness your powers, and you'll lose without them." He turned around and started walking towards the forest in the distance.

"Wax on wax off, Mr. Miyagi." I mumbled to myself as I followed him.

"I will not be teaching you Karate, Daniel-san. I'll be teaching you how to control time." He said, not turning around.

I was stunned. I hadn't said it that loud. In fact, the wind should have covered it up. But he heard it nonetheless.

"You should learn to use your mind. It's the only place I can't listen in without actually attempting to."

"Got it." I said as I thought _'So, basically, wax on wax off.'_

"Good. And yes, wax on wax off." He said with a smirk.

-

**IN WHITETAIL WOODS**

Luna was watching the two beings in the field talk. There was a moment when the creature that Discord had summoned teleported in front of the draconequus' face, scaring him a bit. At this point Luna made a note to tell her sister of these powers. When they began walking towards the tree line that the lunar princess was hiding in she momentarily panicked, thinking they'd spotted her. She had forgotten that she was still using her magic and canceled the spell.

Using her wings, Luna fled deeper into the forest dodging trees as her mind raced. _'What kind of creature can use teleportation magic without using magic? I didn't feel any disturbance in the magical field when it did that, did I? And what did he mean "Lord of Time"? Either way, Discord is planning to use this creature against us. I need to learn more about it and inform my sister so we may plan a counter strategy.'_

_'First thing's first'_ she decided. _'Acquire as much information regarding Discord's champion as possible._

-

**IN THE EVERFREE FOREST**

Celestia had been wandering aimlessly through the Everfree for an hour with nothing to show for it. The forest she was in had chaos magic laced through the trees, in the grass, and even floating on the breeze. There was no way to tell where you were, unless you were well acquainted with the forest. If something magical, like the Elements of Harmony, wanted to be found they would guide you there. You would have to trust the magic of the artifact to lead you in the right direction, which was exactly what Celestia was doing.

"Another fork." She mumbled to herself. "Exactly how many twists and turns can there be in one forest?" the exasperation in her voice was palpable. This was the sixty-third fork, several of which had multiple paths to choose from—she'd been counting.

She sighed at the choice before her and chose right. As she started walking down the path she looked skyward, wondering if Luna was any more successful at her own task. This is why she almost fell into a giant ravine.

"Whew, that was close." She breathed as the adrenaline left her system. "One more step and I'd be flying back up." She chuckled. Just because the princesses had wings doesn't mean that they enjoyed using them. They were the embodiments of all three races; pegasi, unicorn, and earth pony. This made flying possible but a fairly extraneous task, seeing as they were quite large.

"Is there a way across?" her head swiveled around, looking for a bridge of some kind as she mumbled this. When her search yielded no results she slumped her head, downtrodden by the fact that she'd be flying across.

"I hate flying." She said as she flapped her wings and glided across the fissure. When her hooves touched the other side she folded her wings back against her side and began walking again.

There was a five minute period where the trail didn't diverge, change direction, stop, or alter in any way. Celestia saw this as an improvement. Her spirits were momentarily lifted as she continued walking along.

The alicorn felt a chill run up her spine as a roar tore through the dark forest.

-

**IN THE FIELD JUST OUTSIDE WHITETAIL WOODS**

"What do you know so far?" Discord asked me. We'd been walking for no more than thirty seconds, in which time I'd loosened my tie, unbuttoned two buttons of my shirt, and taken my coat off.

"Only what you've shown me." I said as I fished the watch out of my pocket.

"Well, then we don't have much more to go over. It may take some time to master, though. Let's begin." He put a claw to his chin. "Ah! I know. We'll have us a race!" he stated gleefully.

"How will that train me?" I asked.

"You'll have to be quick on your feet to beat me. I may look old, and I might be old, but don't think for a second that makes me slow." He playfully winked at me.

"Ok, what's the rules?" we'd stopped walking, making it easier to adjust my coat over my arm as I asked this.

"No rules, but we'll race again every time you lose." He stated simply. "Readysetgo!" and there was a flash of light. I blinked the spots from my eyes as I tried to find Discord, who had disappeared. When I did find him he was leaning against a tree at the edge of the forest.

"Wait! That's not fair!" I called to the cheating king.

"No rules, remember?" he called back. There was another flash and he was next to me.

"Roundtworeadysetgo!" There was another flash. This time it didn't take as much time for me to find him, seeing as he wasn't in the same place, but still at the forests edge.

"Ok, that's just not fair." I said as I crossed my arms. He teleported back to me with a sly grin.

"If you don't even try, there's no way you can win." He told me simply.

"Fine." I huffed. "Readysetgo!" and I started running towards the forest.

There was a bright light behind me and, yet again, I lost. He was already at the tree line, yawning into his paw.

"You suck, you know that?" I asked after he teleported us back to the starting area.

"Yep! Readyse-" I clicked my watch, stopping him in his tracks. I immediately felt the effects wrack my body. I quickly tidied myself up, buttoning my shirt and putting my jacket on. He was still standing there, his mouth open in a short "e" shape. There I took a minute to just fume at him, yelling in my mind at how stupid that Cheater-McCheaterson was.

When I had finished I looked at him once more, thinking about ways to get him back. A few ideas sped through my mind before I thought about something I hadn't tried yet.

What would happen if I touched him?

I decided to explore this question, wondering what the result would be. Walking up to his face I started searching for a good place to poke. There wasn't a spot that really stood out, so I went with the simplest.

I poked his nose.

The result was a little anticlimactic, seeing as the only difference was a small indent in his snout. I shrugged, thinking the only thing I'd done was leave a mark. I walked to the forest, picked a tree, leaned against it, and thumbed my watch once more.


End file.
